Insights into factors affecting the combined bicycle-transit mode

Abstract

This paper considers an increasingly popular, sustainable multimodality: the combination of bicycle and transit. The flexibility of the bicycle combined with the speed and comfort of good transit can be a highly competitive alternative to the car. This study shows that many factors influence the uptake and attractiveness of the bicycle-transit combination. An in-depth literature review resulted in over thirty unique factors: six transit-related factors, twenty-first-last mile factors and fifteen contextrelated factors. All these factors might influence the demand for this 'new' mode positively or negatively. An exploratory choice modelling study showed the weights of some factors that Dutch bicycle-train users consider when choosing to cycle to a railway station. The weights showed that people are especially willing to cycle to a station with longer bicycle time (or bicycle parking time) when by doing so they can avoid a transfer in their train trip thereafter. The willingness to pay found were €0.11 for 1 min less bicycle time, €0.08 for a minute less train time, €0.11 for a minute of less time to park and €0.60 per avoided transfer. These kinds of insights give the bicycle and transit sector valuable information to be used in modelling multimodality and cost-benefit analyses, thereby supporting improved decision making and integrated design of bicycle and transit networks.

Walking and bicycle catchment areas of tram stops: factors and insights

“…The motives for choosing a stop further away are mostly related with the quality of the transit service and comfort matters, where 'avoiding a transfer' is named most often ( Figure 2). In [9] similar results are found. When asked which out of three options (avoid a transfer, have more options and bicycle parking facilities) would tempt travellers to choose a stop further away, most do this to avoid a transfer or having more options to reach their destination.…”

“…Several studies discuss the effect of high-quality transit: it supposedly leads to longer feeder distances [5,6,17,18,19], and the choice for the bicycle as a feeder mode [2,5,15,9]. However, frequency at the stop and directness of the line have produced remarkable results in this research.…”

“…Quantitative research about the factors that influence the size of catchment areas is limited. [9] found several factors affecting the catchment area but focused on heavy railway stations. No research has yet been conducted on catchment areas for tram stops.…”

Analysing the trip and user characteristics of the combined bicycle and transit mode

“…The potential of bicycle and transit as a combined mode has been recognised in literature, with most of the work on this topic occurring in the last two decades in Western European countries like Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom (Martens, 2004;Rietveld, 2000;van Mil et al, 2018); and North American countries such as the United States and Canada (Flamm and Rivasplata, 2014;Pucher and Buehler, 2009;Tsenkova and Mahalek, 2014). This section reviews the empirical findings related to the combined bicycle and transit mode from these studies.…”

Understanding the Role of Cycling to Urban Transit Stations through a Simultaneous Access Mode and Station Choice Model

“…Increasingly studies investigate these questions, where several classes of factors influencing the access mode, station choice, or both, are identified ( 4 , 5 ). Individual variables, such as age, gender, and income have been found to influence the access mode choice.…”